Bracket.



M. W. RUSSELL.

BRACKET.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4. 1918.

1,299,234. Patented Apr. 1,1919.

WITNESS: INVENTOR.

A TTORNE Y.

MITCHELL W. RUSSELL, 0F SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

BRACKET.

Application filed February 4. 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MITCHELL W. RUSSELL, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and Stateof Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Bracket, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in supporting shelf brackets, and consists essentially of adjustable telescoping members of certain peculiar construction, the means of adjustment being included, all as hereinafter set forth.

The primary object of my invention is to produce a strong and durable, yet light and compact, comparatively inexpensive, and easily adjustable shelf bracket, which is especially well adapted for the support of meters, such as gas meters, that are suspended from the pipes that lead to and from the same, although said bracket is also adapted for a great many other uses.

A meter suspended from its connected pipes should, as a matter of safety, be supportedby a shelf, and, not only that, but the shelf should be upheld by a member or members which can be vertically adjusted, in order that the support for the meter may be fixed in actual supporting relation to said meter, in the first place, and may at any time thereafter be moved into such relation again, as in the event any change in the elevation of the meter should occur or be made. This bracket is adapted to be used in connection with and adjusted to a meter, either when the latter is first set or at any time subse quently thereto.

Another object is to provide a bracket, of the kind described above, which, with the exception of the adjusting screw or bolt, can be stamped out of sheet-metal, and which requires no machine Work beyond that involved in tapping the hole for said bolt, and in making or finishing (countersinking), or both, other holes. It is clear, therefore, that the bracket may be manufactured very cheaply, as previously intimated. Of course, I do not limit myself to sheet-metal in the manufacture of my bracket.

Other objects and advantageswill appear in the course of the following description.

I attain the objects and secure the advantages of my invention by the means illus- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 1, 1919.

Serial No. 215,251.

trated in the accompanying drawings, in Wvhich- Figure 1 is a top plan of a bracket which embodies a practical form of my invention; F1g. 2, a front elevation of said bracket; Fig. 3, a side elevation of the bracket, portions being broken away to show more clearly the construction; Fig. 4, an enlarged cross-section through the bracket, looking down; Fig. 5, a side elevation of the wall support, and, Fig. 6, a front elevation of said support.

Similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout the several views.

Although I have illustrated in connection herewith a practical and even a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that more or less change in the shape, size, construction or arrangement of the parts may be made, so long as the scope of what I claim be not exceeded.

This bracket may be used singly, in pairs, or in any number, for the support of a shelf, usually of wood, like shelf brackets of the old type.

The bracket comprises a wall piece or support 1, an angular shelf piece or support 2, and an adjusting screw or bolt 3.

The support 1 is the member that is adapted to be fastened vertically to the wall or other part of a building or structure against which the bracket is placed, and said support has in the longitudinal center thereof a plurality of openings for screws or other fastening elements. In the present case there are two longitudinal slots 4 and an intermediate opening 5 for the fastening elements. The slots 4 are provided for the purpose of enabling at least two nails or screws to be so inserted in a wall of lath and plaster that they will engage two laths. The longitudinal edges of the support 1 are turned over, as at 6-6, to form a pair of channels or groooves 7. At the base of the support 1 is a forward extension to form a horizontal lug 8. A raised part or boss 9 is formed on the lug 8, and the bolt 3 is tapped into and through said lug and boss. The bolt 3 stands with its head below the lug 8.

The angular support 2 is the member that is adapted to carry the shelf (not shown), and the horizontal arm of said support has one or more upwardly-extending spurs 10 formed therefrom, which are designed to penetrate the shelf and hold the same in place on said arm. The middle portions of both the vertical and horizontal arms of the support 2 are pressed inwardly, as shown at 1111, in order to strengthen and stiffen said support, and a brace 12 connects said arms for a similar purpose. The longitudinal edges of the vertical arm of the support 2, on opposite sides of the central, reinforcing part 11 of said arm, are of a shape, size, and arrangement which permit them to be received in and to slide up and down in the grooves 7. The bent or overturned edges 6 of the support 1 securely hold the vertical arm of the support 2 against pressure applied to the horizontal arm of said support, especially when said support is fairly low down, so that considerable portions of the support 1 and of said vertical arm are in contiguity. The aforesaid vertical arm is 7 connected with the support 1 by inserting the bottom of said arm into the top of said support, with the longitudinal edges of the arm in the grooves 7. Extending forward from the bottom of the reinforcing part 11.,

of the vertical arm of the support 2, is a lug 13. This lug is directly over the lug 8, when the support 2 is in place relative to the support 1, saidlug is hollowed underneath to receive the upper end of the bolt 3, and it may have a countersunk recess or opening 1 1 therein, into which said end of said screw fits. The upper end of the bolt 3 is tapered in the usual manner, and the opening let when present is tapered to correspond. The axes of the opening 14 and tapped opening in the lug 8 are necessarily in the same straight line, and the arrangement of the bolt and the members engaged therebv just described causes the upper end of said bolt to be centered and steadied, thus adding materially to the stability of the bracket and parts.

It will now be seen that the support 2 can be raised or lowered by screwing the bolt up'or down, as the case may be, in the lug 8, through the medium of the lug 13 against which said bolt bears, and in the opening 14 in which the upper terminal of said bolt turns freely.

In practice, the support 1 is fastened securely to a wall. or other supporting part or member, in position to support the meter or other obiect, a shelf is placed on the support 2, and the bolt 3 is turned up to raise said support 2 against the bottom of said object. The support 2 is elevated by the bolt 3 far enough to receive and sustain the load, and relieve any pipe or pipes that may be connected with the supported object from all strain. If subsequent. adjustment of the "support 2 be needed, the same is made without difliculty, simply by further rotation of the bolt 3 in the direction and to the extent required. As before intimated, two or more, usually two, of the brackets are employed for a single shelf.

The bent or overturned edges 6 of the support 1 add greatly to the strength of said support, besides providing the channels 7 for the vertical arm of the support 2.

It is now seen that this bracket is very light, while atthe same time it possesses all the strength necessary in a device of this kind. It is seen, furthermore, that the adjustment of the bracket is sufficiently fine to render said bracket suitable for the particular otiice for which it is more especially intended, and that the adjustment is made in a most convenient and simple manner. The bracket is, therefore, efiicient and practical in all respects.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, in a bracket, of a sheet-metal wall support bent forward at the bottom to form a lug, a threaded member tapped into and through said lug, and a sheet-metal shelf support arranged in sliding relation to said wall support, and also bent forward at the bottom to form a lug which extends over said threaded member.

2. The combination, in a bracket, of a wall support provided at the base with a forwardly extending integral lug, a threaded member tapped into and through said lug, said member having a tapered end, and a shelf support arranged in sliding relation to said wall support, and also provided at the base, with a forwardly-extending integral lug which extends over said threaded memher, and is cupped and perforated to receive and center said tapered end of said member.

3. As an improved article of manufacture, a bracket comprising a wall support having its longitudinal edges over-turned to form grooves, and its base bent forwardly to form a lug, an angular shelf support having the intermediate portions of its arms pressed inwardly, and the longitudinal edges of its vertical arm arranged to slide in said grooves, said vertical arm being bent forwardly at the base to form. a lug which extends over said first-named lug, and the horizontal arm having upwardly-extending prongs, and a threaded member tapped into said first-named lug, and adapted to engage said second-named lug from below and to elevate said shelf support.

MITCHELL W. RUSSELL.

Witnesses F. A. CUTTER, A. C. FAIRBANKS.

Conies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). O. 

